Article on Trip: "No Silent Night in Bethlehem"

The following article I just sent to the Walla Walla Union Bulletin to publish. I may need to shrink it some before they publish it, but here it is in it's full form:

December, 2007
Treye

No Silent Night in Bethlehem

If Mary and Joseph were to try to travel to Bethlehem today, they would be impeded by a 30 foot high concrete wall with watch towers, razor wire, and machine guns. The Israeli military would not allow them access to Bethlehem because it's a West Bank town, and no Israelis are allowed into the West Bank. The exception to this are the often violent settlers, who move into Palestinian areas to steal “back” the land they believe God promised them in the Bible.

I spent over three weeks in Palestine-Israel in October, and I have many stories to share, but these are not the cheery Christmas tales we're used to. On the Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation I participated in, we talked with Israeli human rights and peace groups, Palestinian villagers, an Israeli settler, and various Palestinian peace and social service organizations; we visited East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, villages in the South Hebron Hills, and Hebron itself. After the delegation, I traveled on my own to Ramallah, Jenin, and Nablus. All of these areas have biblical significance to the three monotheistic faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, but the people in these areas subsist in forced dismal poverty and live in constant fear of violence from Jewish settlers and the Israeli military, which wields unchecked power over them. Hope is very dim in Palestine, and there is no quick fix for this conflict that now spans almost 60 years. Any peace in the area will take significant time to develop as people recover from PTSD and more outward scars developed over several generations.

The Wall Israel is constructing some call a security fence, but it does nothing to give security to Israelis or Palestinians. Many Israelis point to the decrease in Palestinian suicide bombings in the last several years to show the Wall is working, but this decline stems, rather, from a mostly well-kept cease-fire Hamas declared. Since the wall is not complete, any person wishing to harm Israel could simply walk the long way around the Wall. In several places, the 30 ft. Wall shrinks to as low as 3 ft., and the only point of such a short Wall is to restrict vehicle and cattle movement. Indeed, since the Wall is being built deep inside Palestine, and not even on the land Israel stole in the 1967 war, Palestinians are even more disrupted by it. The dirty secret behind the Wall, the Israeli military operations, and the settler violence in Palestine is that all these components work together to make life for average Palestinians so miserable that they will leave their land and not return, thus allowing Israel to grab more territory. Despite a plethora of United Nations and Security Council resolutions commanding Israel to disassemble the Wall, retreat to its 1948 border, end the military occupation of Palestine, and dismantle all settlements, Israel has continued to expand its operations on the ground, all the while making empty promises and feigning signs of peace.

The US has attempted to play mediator in this conflict, but the US has no credibility and is viewed with the utmost suspicion by many Palestinians because of its nearly complete one-sided favoritism of Israel. Israel receives more aid from the US than any country in the world, mostly in military aid. The US has used more vetoes in the UN Security Council in favor of Israel than any other issue. And because of all of this support, Israel is now a lop-sided military power-house in the region: the only country with nuclear weapons and the ego to complement its military might. Simply stated, there is no way Israel could continue its occupation of Palestine without the financial, political, and military support of the USA.

The occupations complete disruption of life for average Palestinians does not discourage terrorism; if anything, it encourages it. Yet despite their horrible living conditions and slim hopes, 90% of Palestinians have not participated in violence of any kind. Because of the violence of the few, Israel justifies punishment of the many, adding the international crime of collective punishment to its already long list.

Take the estimated 570 checkpoints inside the West Bank. These “security” checkpoints, which are deep inside Palestine, are a constant disruption for the civilian population. People detained for hours a day at these facilities are not suspected criminals or terrorists; if they were, Israel would arrest or assassinate them. Rather, people detained are often family members of “terrorists”; others are detained for no apparent reason. The checkpoints are not about Israeli security, as they are mostly set up between Palestinian towns. Imagine traveling through all the security checks of an international airline flight to and from work everyday, and you'll have an idea of what many of the checkpoints are like for Palestinians. If you're an international or Israeli, you don't wait, but if you're Palestinian, you have no passport and no citizenship, so you wait hours.

Another example of collective punishment is the housing demolitions the military carries out. Since 1967, Israel has demolished over 18,000 Palestinian homes, and every year, 100 Palestinian houses are demolished in East Jerusalem, which was illegally annexed by Israel after the 1967 war. Israel emphasizes security as the reason for demolitions, but the overwhelming majority of demolitions occur because Palestinians don't have building permits. Israel almost never issues building permits to Palestinians, whether they live in the West Bank or East Jerusalem. So, Palestinians build anyway, and when they do, their home is in danger of being demolished, with only a same-day warning, at best, before the bulldozers demolish their home. The few houses that are demolished every year for “security” reasons are not demolished because terrorists live there; almost always, the “terrorist” has been imprisoned or assassinated already, but Israel demolishes the houses of security threats’ families as well. I personally saw demolished homes that had housed 3-4 families. One such house I visited in Nablus the Israeli military demolished in the middle of the night without any warning. A plaque at the sight lists the date and names of the eight people who were buried alive inside; no one survived.

Palestinian unemployment runs around 60%, and one result is that more babies are born. Palestinian population growth is very alarming to Israel and considered a “security threat.” Israel feels compelled to keep a Jewish majority at all costs, so it demolishes houses, harasses Palestinians, and prevents the return of war refugees (despite international laws against this), all to make sure Jews are the majority in Israel (approximately 30% of people living in Israel are Arabs). This is blatant ethnic cleansing, and it’s something Israel does throughout Palestine and Israel.

We met with a Jewish settler woman at one point in the delegation, and she surprised me by her desire to live in peace with her Palestinian neighbors. She said, “The wall is terrible. It’s a blot on Israeli society. People shouldn’t be separated. Arabs can’t get through to see each other or to other countries.” Despite these words, my settler friend insisted at various times that Palestinians were treated equal in Israel. At the end of her talk, she said, “If I could give this land to the Arabs and it would bring peace, I would give it to them. But I don't think they want peace—all their actions show differently. And I said, 'Give it to them.’ I didn't say, 'Give it back to them,' because if you read the Torah, it's clear that this land was promised to us, so it's ours. It's always been ours.” I felt so sad that a woman with good intentions had this thinking behind her actions and words. The Zionist idea that the land is for the Jews only and no others is the catalyst for a great majority of the violence and conflict in the region. Even if my settler friend was not violent herself, she benefited from the violence of other settlers living near her.

Walking into Hebron, you'll see the results of settler violence. Every sidewalk in the downtown area is covered with wire mesh and netting that sag from the weight of trash, rocks, bricks, and boulders large enough to kill a person. These items are thrown by settlers who have stolen Palestinian houses in the heart of the city; settlers squat in apartments above sidewalks, then throw items at civilians walking below. There is no doubt that throwing rocks and boulders at shoppers is terrorism.

There are many personal stories I could share about the hardship and misery the Palestinians have lived in for decades: stories of children harassed on their way to school, of the military nightly breaking down doors to conduct searches, of ambulances bombed by Israeli rockets, of trash piles from lack of garbage pick-up, of Palestinian cameramen shot by soldiers, of military curfews, of beatings and indefinite detainments, and more. But to hear the details of such stories, you'll have to read my blog (which includes my daily journals from the trip) or come to one of my slide presentations in Seattle, Tacoma, Walla Walla, or Portland. For all information about the trip and upcoming speaking engagements, please visit: www.palestine-delegation.blogspot.com.

There are steps we can take to put an eventual end to the blood-letting in the region. First, we should educate ourselves on the conflict and read about the history of the region—a history that is full of examples of Jews and Muslims living together in relative peace. Then, we need to talk to others about what we've learned. There is no way the Israeli occupation could continue without a majority supporting it in both Israel and the USA. We should call our congress people and urge them to support legislation and policies that are friendly to both Israelis and Palestinians, not favoring one over the other, which helps no one. Finally, it wouldn't hurt to do a little investigation into where your taxes and investments are going, and if some of your money goes to Israel or companies supporting Israel's occupation policies, consider protesting to the appropriate persons or pulling your funding.

Most Palestinians, whether they're Muslim or Christian, will not have a Merry Christmas, Blessed Eid-al-Adha,[1] or a Happy New Year. It's hard to celebrate the coming of the 60^th year living under military rule. The land is so controlled now by the Israeli military that it would be difficult for any of those familiar historical and biblical characters to live in or wander the area. It makes one wonder what happened to the examples of Abraham and Isaac and Jesus, people who tried to share the land in peace with their Canaanite or Samaritan brothers and sisters.

This holiday season, take a moment to remember those who do not have as much to be thankful for. Take a moment to think about what Bethlehem and Nazareth and Jerusalem are like today. It's easy to feel good about the Christmas story when we're gathered around a romantic manger scene, but consider what Christmas in Bethlehem is like today, and make a New Year's resolution to work for what the angels sang about: Peace on earth, good will to all people.

Treye, a graduate of Walla Walla College, is a Quaker who lives and works at the Tacoma Catholic Worker community.

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[1] The holiday commemorating Abraham’s faithfulness in being willing to sacrifice his son; it marks the beginning of the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

First Presentation: Seattle

My first scheduled presentation is at University Friends Meeting in Seattle: January 20 from 1--2:30 pm. Let me know if you need directions to the event.

I hope to do a presentation in Portland, possibly the end of Dec., but we're still working out the details. I'll probably do a presentation in Walla Walla the end of Jan. or beginning of Feb.

Israeli civil rights group: racism rampant in Israel

From an Israeli newspaper; we met with ACRI on my trip:

Civil rights group: Israel has reached new heights of racism

By Yuval Yoaz and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents

Author Sami Michael, president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said upon the release of the organization's annual report that racism was so rife it was damaging civil liberty in Israel.

"Israeli society is reaching new heights of racism that damages freedom of

expression and privacy," Michael said. The publication coincides with Human Rights Week, which begins Sunday.

The report's key points include a 26-percent rise in the number of racist incidents against Arabs and twice as many Jews reporting a feeling of hate toward Arabs.

"We are a society under supervision under a democratic regime whose institutions are being undermined and which confers a different status to residents in the center of the country and in the periphery," Michael said.

According to the June 2007 Democracy Index of the Israel Democracy Institute, for example, only half the public believes that Jews and Arabs must have full equal rights.

Among Jewish respondents, 55 percent support the idea that the state should encourage Arab emigration from Israel and 78 percent oppose the inclusion of Arab political parties in the government. According to a Haifa University study, 74 percent of Jewish youths in Israel think that Arabs are "unclean."

The ACRI says that bills introduced in the Knesset contribute to delegitimize the country's Arab citizens, such as ones that would link the right to vote and receive state allowances to military or national service.

They also include bills that require ministers and MKs to swear allegiance to a Jewish state and those that set aside 13 percent of all state lands owned by the Jewish National Fund for Jews only.

"Arab citizens are frequently subject to ridicule at the airports," the report states.

It says that Arab citizens "are subject to 'racial profiling' that classifies them as a security threat. The government also threatens the freedom of expression of Arab journalists by brandishing the whip of economic boycott and ending the publication of government announcements in newspapers that criticize its policy."

Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh said that the report "did not take us by surprise and neither should anyone be surprised by it. Its results are the natural consequence of a racist campaign led by political and military leaders, as well as the result of the anti-Arab racist policies implemented by consecutive governments."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932384.html

Jeff Halper on the "New Peace Talks"

From the leader of Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, a group we met with on our delegation:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380752506&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Whose road map?

Jeff halper , THE JERUSALEM POST
Nov. 6, 2007

As did his pronouncements last August in Jericho , where Prime Minister Ehud Olmert indicated a willingness to withdraw from an area equivalent to 100% of the occupied territories, his latest declarations to the Saban Forum, in the presence of Condoleezza Rice and Tony Blair, sounded promising, even stirring. " Annapolis is a landmark," he said, "on the path to negotiations and of the genuine effort to achieve the realization of the vision of two nations: the State of Israel - the nation of the Jewish people; and the Palestinian state - the nation of the Palestinian people."

Moreover, he expressed the hope that the two-state solution would be achieved before US President George W. Bush's term ends in January 2009.

The speech sounded sincere, even impassioned. Olmert gave the impression that he was willing to confront all the difficulties - including the necessity of Israel fulfilling its part of the road map bargain. He stated firmly and clearly that Israel had now "partners for peace" in the Palestinian leadership. All the bases appeared to have been covered; the commitment of the Israeli government to the road map and a two-state solution beyond doubt.

SO WHAT is the problem? The missing piece, the crucial document that subverts any viable two-state solution, a factor in Israel's strategic considerations mentioned by Olmert as an aside only a few days ago, is Bush's letter of April, 2004, to then-prime minister Ariel Sharon. This little-noticed document fundamentally changed the parameters of what is to be discussed in any "peace process" and what Israel 's obligations are under the road map. It is considered by the Israeli government as perhaps the most crucial element in its effort to retain the major settlement blocs and in that way foreclosing the possibility of a viable Palestinian state.

The essence of the Bush letter, which was subsequently ratified by the House of Representatives by a vote of 407-9 and by the Senate by 95-1, is the following passage: "In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949."

In one seemingly innocuous sentence, President Bush fatally but knowingly undermined UN Resolution 242, the very basis of the two-state solution since 1967 and of his own road map initiative, by nullifying the requirement that Israel return to the Green Line (with agreed-upon adjustments) so that a viable Palestinian state might emerge.

Israel takes the American position - rejected by the other three members of the road map Quartet, the UN, Europe and Russia , but so what? - as agreement to its retaining its major settlement blocs. They are six or seven in number: the Jordan Valley , the Ariel bloc, the Modi'in bloc, the three blocs that make up "Greater Jerusalem" (Givat Ze'ev, Ma'aleh Adumim and the Etzion Bloc/Efrat), and perhaps a salient into Hebron .

When, then, Olmert speaks of "conforming to the road map," he speaks of withdrawal from all the occupied territory outside those settlement blocs, since the Bush letter de facto annexes them to Israel. The massive building of settlements and highways within these settlement blocs does not, therefore, constitute a breach in Israel 's responsibility to end settlement construction in the first phase of the road map, since they are no longer parts of the occupied territory.

The area of the settlement blocs that Israel wishes to retain may not seem like much; between 10-20% of the West Bank , including "Greater Jerusalem." But they are crucial for a viable Palestinian state - and "viability" is a term of reference in the road map.

The settlement blocs of an Israeli "Greater Jerusalem" remove from the Palestinians the economic heart of their future state, since up to 40% of the Palestinian economy, according to the World Bank, revolves around tourism in Jerusalem . The other blocs carve the West Bank into three "cantons" ( Sharon 's term, since Olmert's Convergence Plan, which he never abandoned, is based on Sharon 's Cantonization Plan). The Jordan Valley bloc ensures Israeli control of the border and of the Jordan River 's water.

Indeed, while accepting the road map, Olmert has in mind a very different document than that of the UN, the Europeans, the Russians and the Palestinians themselves. Integral to Israel 's version of the document are the "14 reservations" it appended, which effectively nullify the road map as a genuine path to peace.

Reservation # 5, for example, states that "The provisional state will have provisional borders and certain aspects of sovereignty, be fully demilitarized., be without the authority to undertake defense alliances or military cooperation, and Israeli control over the entry and exit of all persons and cargo, as well as of its air space and electromagnetic spectrum."

IN THE end, the Palestinians may get 80-90% of the West Bank , but they do not get a viable state. They will have sterile swatches of territory whereas Israel retains control of the borders, movement of people and goods both within the Palestinian state and between it and the countries around, much of the country's arable land, almost all its water, the Palestinians' airspace and even control of their communications. The Palestinian state is deprived of a viable economy. Given that 60% of Palestinians are under the age of 18 and that mini-state must absorb hundreds of thousands of refugees, itsa prospects for being a viable, stable and truly independent state are nil given the unspoken parameters outlined in the Bush letter.

There will be a Palestinian state. Israel has an urgent demographic need to get the almost four million Palestinians of the occupied territories off its hands. It might even attempt to "swap" a couple hundred thousand Israeli Arab citizens of the Galilee Triangle under the pretense of giving the Palestinians more land. The crucial question is: will it be a viable state? If it's true that Olmert intends that Israel permanently retain the settlement blocs, an Israeli "greater" Jerusalem and effective control of the entire country to the Jordan River , then we will merely be substituting a sophisticated form of apartheid for occupation. The devil is in the details.

The writer is the coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

jeff@icahd.org